A Secret Dream

“Happy 5.000 words!” I flinched in shock. It was early in the morning and I hadn’t suspected that there would be a person in my cabinet, as I was opening it. It was my beautiful muse standing there in a world that didn’t look like my usual cabinet at all. There was a narrow path through a wood, that seemed to had lead her here. She stood there with a smile and enjoyed my confusion. “Come on”, she said. “Lets go for a little walk!”

The weather in my wardrobe was very nice, the air fresh and I saw a pair of squirrels rumbling through the trees. “So, you mastered the first 5.000 words of your nanowrimo-challenge”, my muse said again. “Not bad for a blocked writer. Are you happy?”

I nodded. “I hope I can continue to write in that pace.”

“I brought you a present.” She handed me a very small red box.

I touched the lid of the box and it unfolded itself. In it was a tiny little orchestra. There were violin players, chellos, bass, a tiny horn section, a little kettledrum with a little kettledrummer, harp, woodwinds, really everything you need for a big orchestra and everything and everyone was teeny-weenie flea-size small. I was overwhelmed with wonder. Now this tiny orchestra started to play Edvard Grieg’s “In the hall of the mountain king”. It was gorgeous. The muse and I listened together. “Bravo! Bravo!” I was thrilled. The tiny musicians in my hand took a bow. “Thank you, that was excellent”, I told them. The box closed itself again, before it suddenly vanished. A marvellous piece of magic!

“Don’t panic that much”, the muse said with a smile. “A little panic once in a while will sure be enough.” She seemed amused. “Just tell me, how you think you can manage to meet the mortal muse I asked you to choose.”

“We are talking about Noel Fielding again I guess?”

“Yes, we do. What trickery have you detected in the labyrinth of your desires?”

“No trickery, just normal thinking. I would have to wait, till he goes on tour or something, then buy a ticket to London and watch his show.”

My muse looked crestfallen. “Is that all you’ve got?”

Guilt struck me to the bone and I protested: “No, no, of course not! That would be boring and also not really satisfying. If I would just see him on stage, I would be entertained, but nothing more. I wouldn’t have a chance to get to know him. And probably afterwards I couldn’t say anything more than now about the question if he is a faun or not. A look at him from the auditorium would not do the trick.”

My muse smiled again. “You saved yourself there”, she whispered and I took a silent note, that I have to get rid of the chains of normal life to satisfy my muse. “So? What is your plan?”

“I would like to meet him on an equal level and not on the fan to star level, where I am now.”

“That sounds reasonable.”

“If I where an English-speaking stand-up comedian, I could meet him on a colleague level. I would be the rookie, but we would have the same profession. Or if I would be a successful artist, meeting him would also be a colleague experience.”

“I can follow you.”

“Yes, but I am neither a comedian nor an artist. As a writer, I only have the chance of being very successful and Noel becoming a fan per coincidence.”

“I am sure, there are more possibilities”, my muse added. “How do you imagine a perfect meeting with him?”

“Well”, I was relieved, because I had spent quite some time, thinking about that. “I would enjoy to work with him. I imagine, that that would be a lot of fun. A project we could work on together – I guess that would be the dream.”

“Well, that is not entirely true”, my muse said. “You have a bigger dream, but it is too fantastic for you to say it aloud. Which is, when you think of it, a bit odd, because what better time or place could there possibly be to say it, than whilst walking in your wardrobe with an ancient Greek muse on your side?”

Of course I knew in an instant, what she was talking about. There was a bigger dream, but my self-esteem was too low, to allow me to wallow in it. But my muse was demanding. “I would like to be his muse.” There, I said it. It was a silly dream, but I loved it. Secretly.

My muse smiled. “Good girl”, she whispered. And a bit louder she said: “There you have a fine goal for studying the ways of the muse. And I have just the perfect idea for you next present. If you manage to write another 5000 words for nanowrimo…” She clapped twice and a door appeared. “Have a nice write”, she said with her usual sweet wink. Then she pushed me through that door and I landed in my home again. Oddly, I held my laptop now in my hands. No leisure time for me today, for it is nanowrimo.